New guidance on promoting civil society participation in policy and budget processes

The Reference Document “Promoting civil society participation in policy and budget processes” has just been released in the DEVCO Tools and Methods Series. 

The Document provides guidance on how to promote the participation of civil society in domestic policy and budget processes. The Document focuses both on national and local level with a view to identifying entry points for EU support in terms of policy dialogue and operational support.

It responds to one of the main priorities of the September 2012 Communication "Roots of Democracy" by outlining entry points for promoting meaningful participation of civil society organisations in domestic policy processes. Similarly, the Document responds to the eligibility criterion on transparency and oversight of the budget introduced by the October 2011 Communication "The Future Approach to EU Budget Support in Third Countries".  

The target audience includes EU staff in Delegations and at headquarters responsible for mainstreaming a more strategic engagement with civil society in our instruments and programmes including budget support. The document has also been written for colleagues managing instruments and programmes directly targeted at civil society such as the Thematic Programme for Civil Society Organisations and Local Authorities.       

The Reference Document is also available in French.